To be annoyed with "vegetarians" that eat fish

[exBrightonBell]

If you eat fish then you aren't a vegetarian - it's as simple as that! I'm a vegetarian and it pisses me off when I say so, and the next question is "do you eat fish?" Er, no, because I already said that I'm VEGETARIAN. It's just lazy and it causes confusion for actual vegetarians.

Now I appreciate that the term pescetarian is a bit of a clunky term that is unlikely to be used. But it IS the correct name for the fish eating brigade.

[quirrelquarrel]

Yummy moussaka!
I don't think they were necessarily pseudo-vegetarians (I respect people who eat meat infrequently and only free range much more than just normal meat eaters if there must be a scale; if they call themselves vegetarians, it's not my problem), they were just rude, Letty!

[higgle]

Thanks for that bit of info PP - they probably couldn't afford to buy in the beetroot I was looking forward to!

[nickelbabylyinginamanger]

When I was in hospital after giving birth, I had very low iron. None of the veggie options most days had any iron in at all

[cheesesarnie]

does it matter op?
yes its a pain when explaining that you don't eat fish but think youre being bit ott!

i'm vegetarian no fish
ds1 is a meat eater
dd is vegetarian but eats fish
ds2 is vegetarian and does not eat fish.

but we really piss you off!

[nickelbabylyinginamanger]

Cheesesarnie your dd is not vegetarian because she eats fish. Full stop.

[PartTimeModel]

YANBU.
Vegetarians don't eat fish. Simple.

[NothingIsAsBadAsItSeems]

Why is it that some people fail to grasp the fact the a Vegetarian does not under any circumstance eat fish or any other type of meat?

Judging from some of the comments here it would appear that:

a - pescetarians can't be bothered to find out what they are so just say vegetarian

b - They don't want the hassle of explaining their dietary needs but are more than happy to cause confusion/pass extra hassle to actual vegetarians

c - Assume that anyone in catering is less intelligent and therefore unable to understand what a pescetarian is, so again claim to be vegetarians....

d - Actually believe that fish is not an animal and therefore not meat

Why not just say 'I eat fish but not other types of meat' surely that would be easier than saying 'oh, I'm a vegetarian so I'm going to have the fish'

We went to a nice restaurant tonight and one of the customers loudly proclaimed to be vegetarian in front of the waitress.... When the time came to order the customer ordered fish - Queue the waitress saying 'so you're not a vegetarian then' which caused a lot of huffing and puffing from the 'vegetarian'

[Bessie123]

You mean cue the waitress...

Pescetarian is a stupid word that wankers use. It was made up recently to give a name to a way of eating that does not include meat but does include fish. What I imagine usually happens is this:
Person A: what can I eat off the menu? I don't eat meat
Person B: are you a vegetarian?
Person A: no, I don't eat meat. I'm a pescetarian.
Person B: what's that?
Person A: it's someone who eats fish but doesn't eat meat
Person B: so are you a vegetarian?
Person A: no, I eat fish but I don't eat meat. Actually, this is too annoying, don't worry, I will just eat bread



Even if Person A does want to eat, Person B is then less bothered about finding out about or preparing dishes that don't contain animals because person A is not a vegetarian.

Ffs I can call myself empress of the world if I like, what's it got to do with anyone else? What do you care what someone's reasons are for calling themselves vegetarian? And if you are worried it makes things more 'difficult' for 'real' vegetarians, I think you should count yourselves lucky you haven't got anything better to worry about.

[Moominsarehippos]

Of course people know what pescatorian means.

I had dinner with a vegetarian. She whinged loudly about the lack of choice 'we' have and how hard it is to eat out (I've beem veggie for over 25 years and managed fine mainly). She then chose the fish starter with lamb for main. I didn't even bother to ask on which planet fish and lamb were vegetables.

[LentilAsAnything]

Or, Bessie, it could go:
Person A: what can I eat off the menu? I don't eat RED meat
Person B: are you a vegetarian?
Person A: no, I don't eat RED meat. I'm a pescetarian.
Person B: what's that?
Person A: it's someone who eats fish but doesn't eat RED meat. Of course, fish is still meat, but I am a wanker who distinguishes flesh as food based on whether it walked, swam or flew.
Person B: ah! Thank you for enlightening me. I am glad I won't be a dumbass for the rest of my life.
Person A: Great, glad to be of service. Now fetch me my dead fish.

< everyone feels uncomfortable person B feels informed>

[LentilAsAnything]

Please read NothingIsAsBad's wonderful post previous to yours, with a bit of an open mind, yes? I promise you your brains won't fall out.

[FlyingFig]

My mam doesn't eat meat, but she does eat fish. She stopped eating meat 35 years ago when pregnant with me, as the smell made her feel ill.

She doesn't describe herself as anything in particular, other than saying "I don't eat meat". Which isn't hard to cater for, nor is she being awkward. She just can't eat meat.

No problems!

[DontForgetTheLightAlesLawrence]

Actually Bessie, it usually goes like this:

Vegetarian: 'what's vegetarian please?'
Food Server: 'well, chicken korma...'
Vegetarian: 'no, sorry, I'm vegetarian; I don't eat meat'
Food Server: 'oh. Fish and chips or tuna pasta bake...'
Vegetarian: 'no! I don't eat meat. Or fish. I'm a VEGETARIAN'
Food Server: 'jacket potato?'

Yep. I do have a whole world of bigger things to worry about. Sometimes I just sweat the small stuff. :)

[DontForgetTheLightAlesLawrence]

XPosts. And since I've corrected you, I won't tell you off for being sniffy about the cue/queue conundrum.

[Bessie123]

lentil what the hell are you talking about? Why do you think chicken and turkey are fish?

Meat is the flesh of mammal and/or bird, fish is fish.

I'm going to bed now. But in case anyone is not whipped into a froth of righteous indignation over something completely insignificant, I know plenty of people who eat fish but not meat and not one of them describes themselves as a vegetarian or a pescetarian. Although I wouldn't give a shit if they did.

In fact, I think those of you vegetarians who buy leather shoes and bags are far more worthy of scorn

Sleep tight

[Bessie123]

don'tforgetthelightales

[FlyingFig]

My mam doesn't describe herself as vegetarian, she just happens to hate meat. But she will quite happily chose from a vegetarian menu.

[DontForgetTheLightAlesLawrence]

Night Bessie. Glad to know you're less concerned about how your friends' identify their food choices, as you are about a load of Internet sprites. Sleep tight.

[exBrightonBell]

It's interesting that lots of people seem to be getting very worked up about telling me that it isn't worth getting worked up about.... Not that I do get that bothered! Peeved on occasion is really the extent of it.

And I will remember to say that I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian next time I'm asked :-)

[JeezyOrangePips]

I have a solution!

If people describe themselves as lacto-Ovo-vegetarians

Fish eaters could describe themselves as lacto-Ovo-pesce-vegetarians.

Which means they eat eggs dairy fish and veg.

And it sounds like pesky vegetarians, which is how a lot of people regard them anyway!

[Moominsarehippos]

I only get irritated when a veggie makes a whole song anmd dance/scene about food in a restautant, then orders fish or chicken! I've always managed fine and never felt the need to kick off if there isnt much choice. In fact, I get dizzy if there are more than two veggie options on a menu! I lived on cheese salads in the 80s.

[ImKateandsoismywife]

I don't really care what other people choose to label themselves as but as a vegetarian (who doesn't eat fish) I was annoyed when I went out for a meal and ordered the vegetarian platter to find it was potato wedges, onion rings, fish goujons, king prawns and crab sticks

[13Iggis]

ImKate - what happened next? (I'm assuming you told them!)

[Moominsarehippos]

Thats because there are people who arent proper veggie and make a big deal of being veggie order fish/chicken! Most real veggies just order their meal and get on with it! I had a meal with one 'veggie' and we ordered our food. She's made such a fuss about the lack of choice and complained about the menu to the waiter. The first course came and it was pretty awful. Again she complained and the waiter offered her something else. Yup, she ordered the fish.

But seriously, onion rings and crabsticks? Yuk.

[NothingIsAsBadAsItSeems]

You mean cue the waitress...

...I'm mildly dyslexic so of course some words may be wrong...

But if I'm going to label myself as something at least I make the effort to use the correct label, and not masquerade as something I'm quite clearly not.